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VIDEO - Click here to watch the Sunday morning session(AP/KSL News) -- Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, assured church members at their twice-yearly conference Sunday that his health is fine, despite major surgery this year.
President Hinckley, 96, was hospitalized for six days last winter after a cancerous growth was removed from his colon.
"I have learned from many sources that there is considerable speculation concerning my health. I wish to put the record straight," he said.
In his 97th year, President Gordon B. Hinckley will become, in a few months, the oldest president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ever. He had never been a hospital patient until last January.
"Last January I underwent major surgery. It was a miserable experience," he said. "Following this, the question was whether I should undergo further treatment. I chose to do so. My doctors have called the results miraculous. I know that the favorable results come from your many prayers on my behalf. I am deeply grateful to you."
"It is not an easy thing to preside over this large and complex church," President Hinckley said. "The responsibility and stress are great."
"I feel well, my health is reasonably good."
President Hinckley talked on a theme of faith as he told of early church leaders and of the efforts of Latter-day Saints today to meet the needs of the poor and those in need throughout the world.
Then he told the story of the Martin and Willey handcart companies who were rescued by conference-goers in October of 1856.
"Their faith is our inheritance," President Hinckley said, "a reminder to us of the price they paid for the comforts which we enjoy."
President Hinckley also talked about smaller events of faith.
As this fall session of General Conference concluded, it was a very emotional time. Members of the congregation sang the hymn "We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet" to President Hinckley.
The congregation then stood all at once, as a sign of love and respect. As President Hinckley left the Conference Center he expressed his love for them.
Latter-day Saints gather in April and October to hear words of faith and inspiration from church leaders. The proceedings pack the church's 21,000 seat conference center and are broadcast worldwide via satellite and the Internet in 85 languages.
In April, President Hinckley's diminished role at the podium and the remark that he was "in the sunset of my life," sparked speculation that his death may be imminent.
But by late spring President Hinckley, who also suffers from a mild form of diabetes, had appeared to resume his normal, busy schedule.
In June, he marked his 96th birthday with the dedication of a building that will bear his name at the church-owned Brigham Young University in Provo. He's also dedicated construction sites for new church temples in Draper and Sacramento, Calif., and last weekend presided over the church's General Relief Society meeting.
The 15th president of the church, President Hinckley said he couldn't know how much time he has left, but that he would continue to "give my best to the task at hand."
"I feel well. My health is reasonably good," he said. "But when it is time for a successor, the transition will be smooth."
LDS church presidents serve for life. When the president dies, the church's First Presidency -- the triumvirate of leaders at the top of the church is dissolved.
Management of the church is then assumed by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the second tier of leadership, until a new president is appointed.
The succession of the next president is tied to the length of leadership service among members of the Quorum, who are all men. Hinckley's current first counselor in the First Presidency, Thomas S. Monson, is in line to assume the role of president.
President Monson, 79, first became a member of the Quorum in 1963. In addition to serving as a counselor to President Hinckley, President Monson also served alongside two other church presidents.
Like President Hinckley, President Monson made multiple addresses through the weekend, stressing the need for deep faith, which he said would help church members withstand adversity.
Other messages warned the congregation against the dangers of pornography, gambling, pride and attitudes of superiority. Others called on members to live with integrity, serve others and maintain the high moral codes of the church, which eschews alcohol and tobacco and encourages modest dress.
President Hinckley closed the event with a final message of hope.
"We wish there were peace in the earth and we constantly pray that it may come," he said.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
